Chapter 130: Another System

"What tenacious vitality."

Chen Ming silently withdrew his strength and turned to look at the demon warrior lying on the ground, whose eyes still burned with defiance.

Yet, despite that lingering defiance, a flicker of fear hid deep within those pupils. After all, demons were still creatures of a kind. As long as there is life, there is an instinct for self-preservation and a natural fear of the strong—not to mention these demons, corrupted by demonic essence. Seeing Chen Ming’s display of power, the surrounding demons watched him with excited, fervent gazes.

Chen Ming scanned the crowd. Among the onlookers, a few female demons even beat their chests in cheer, appearing entirely unconcerned by the fallen warrior. Perhaps, in the minds of these demons, only the victor was worthy of worship; the defeated were merely food.

However, as the demon warrior was cleanly subdued by Chen Ming, the demon chieftain stepped forward in silence, wearing a hideous, twisted grin.

Observing this, Chen Ming felt a touch of surprise. "Is he hoping to spare this warrior to keep me from finishing him off?"

"It seems that, as a tribal leader, even if demons are naturally cruel and worship the strong, they still possess a clear understanding of the distinction between their own kind and outsiders."

The chieftain lowered his head, speaking to Chen Ming with a show of respect, clearly pleading for the warrior's life. Following his gesture, a demon who appeared to be a member of the honor guard, distinguished by a feather tucked into his head, approached carrying a tray.

On the tray sat a jet-black substance, resembling a crystal, exceptionally deep and dense, with a faint, pulsing aura of life emanating from within.

"Hmm, what is this?" Chen Ming was startled.

"A highly concentrated crystallization of demonic energy? No, it is not merely condensed power; there are faint fluctuations of life and natural laws."

The more he probed, the more astonished he became. "It does not feel like pure demonic energy. It seems more like a byproduct born from the influence of some existence with an incredibly powerful essence."

As he drew this conclusion, a key thought struck him. He looked up sharply at the demon chieftain, his eyes overflowing with a cold, piercing light, a trace of divine might permeating the air and refusing to dissipate.

The demon chieftain, terrified, stumbled back several paces and let out a low growl.

Before the chieftain could react, Chen Ming spoke: "Where did you get this?"

He stared at the chieftain, and as he spoke, a hint of gold gradually surfaced in his eyes, radiating immense divine power to compel the truth. Under his deliberate guidance, the chieftain’s eyes glazed over; he felt his mind go blank, and he recounted the origin exactly as Chen Ming commanded.

As the narrative deepened, Chen Ming obtained the information he desired. He turned away, ignoring the crowd of demons, and walked straight out of the tribe.

He headed toward the north, marching steadily forward.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the further he traveled in this direction, the more intense the strange and anomalous laws permeating the environment became. The demonic energy surged violently, as if he had stepped into another world.

This reaction confirmed his suspicions. He continued his path, gazing into the distance.

"This feeling... it seems I was right."

He pondered, his thoughts drifting back. "No wonder the demonic calamities in this region have never ceased since the ancient times of this world. It seems this place is one of the sources."

In ancient times, a Demon God who had nearly touched the realm of immortality had fallen and perished completely. Its body had shattered into fragments, which scattered across this world. These were the roots of the world's disaster, and those fragmented remains were the sources—the primary culprits responsible for the world's corruption.

With this in mind, he silently produced the pitch-black crystal and began to channel the energy, following the fragments of information he had extracted from the demon tribe.

As he began, the surrounding demonic energy seemed to be drawn in, flowing toward him in a constant stream. However, it was blocked by a layer of radiance surrounding Chen Ming’s body, unable to penetrate.

"So this is the law and cultivation method of another world?" he thought to himself.

He had gained many surprises from that demon tribe, and this cultivation technique was one of them.

"Although it is only the most basic form, in any system, the foundation is the core. It carries the philosophy of the entire system, and I can certainly attempt to deduce what follows."

"Moreover, a system from another world must contain fragments of that world’s laws. By utilizing this, I may be able to discern some of the secrets of that Demon God."

As he thought this, his heart stirred with anticipation.

As he let his guard down, the radiance around his body—which had been repelling the demonic energy—gradually faded. At the same time, his divine power retracted, returning to its most primal state.

He gazed at the dense demonic energy in the air and began to channel it according to the method he had acquired.

Driven by his powerful soul, the countless streams of demonic energy surged wildly, washing over his body. If the demon chieftain had seen this, his eyes would have surely popped out in shock; the speed of his absorption was countless times faster than that of an ordinary demon.

Under the guidance of his powerful soul, Chen Ming broke through rapidly.

Soon, with a muffled thud, the first stage was cleared. He bypassed the long, arduous process that others faced, reaching the level of a First-Rank Grand Knight, and quickly ascended to the Second Rank.

Beyond this point, the cultivation method he had obtained from the tribe lacked further instruction.

Chen Ming raised his head, his Godhead spinning frantically, absorbing and comprehending the countless laws he had gathered to push the deduction forward.

During this process, the divine power within him fluctuated violently, being consumed at a rapid pace to fuel the deduction. Under this massive expenditure, the subsequent stages of the cultivation method were quickly mapped out.

Third Rank! Fourth Rank!

Just as he was about to deduce the Fifth Rank, his Godhead flickered violently and finally ceased its activity. This was due to both the depletion of energy and the limits of his current accumulation.

After all, if one were to be precise, although Chen Ming was a deity who could briefly contend with Sixth-Rank powerhouses through the support of his countless believers, his essence remained at the Fifth Rank. Deducing a cultivation method at the same level as his own was not impossible, but it could not be done as easily as before.

However, as the deduction concluded, a strange, unsettling feeling began to rise within Chen Ming.